The only future left: zero emissions now

To borrow a line from the esteemed Philip Sutton of Greenleap Strategic Institute; there is too much greenhouse gas in the atmosphere right now.

I repeat.

There is TOO MUCH greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, RIGHT NOW.

This means that with every single molecule of carbon dioxide that enters the atmosphere, the human race are making a bad situation worse. The average global temperature has already increased 0.83oC since pre-industrial levels. James Hansen (head of NASA's climate science Goddard Institute) warns that the earth is also committed to an extra 0.6oC rise due to the lag effect of thermal inertia embedded in the ocean. So even if we immediately halt the release of greenhouse gases we are coming precariously close to the 2.0oC rise that thousands of scientists have predicted will tip our planet into catastrophic runaway climate events.

Yet instead of reversing or slowing our greenhouse gas emissions, they are still rapidly rising. Greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere have increased in the last thirty years by the same amount they rose in the previous 170 years. The ramifications of such a steep rise are countless and disastrous. Hansen predicts that by 2050 sea levels will be rising by one metre per decade, displacing billions of people worldwide. Over half the planet will be suffering from water scarcity issues. If the human race chooses not to immediately reduce carbon emissions we may well end this century with over 50% of species extinct.

In short, all life on earth is in big trouble. Thousands of climate change experts around the world warn we have less than 10 years to makes comprehensive changes to protect humanity. So what can humanity do to avoid disastrous climate change?

That part is easy. If we want to enjoy the 'long summer' conditions in which the human race has flourished for the past 10,000 years, we need to reduce the level of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere to pre-industrial levels. This means reducing our greenhouse gas emissions to near zero as soon as possible.

It may sound like a difficult target to reach, but we are already half-way there. Throughout the world there are dozens of readily available technologies that provide massive amounts of energy and release zero greenhouse gas emissions. Wind power recently produced a quarter of Spain's daily electricity needs, and the country will install double that capacity again by 2010. Millions of cars around the world are being powered by electricity and hydrogen rather than carbon intensive crude oil. In California billions of dollars is being spent to produce electricity using concentrating solar power technology. Even in Tasmania they generate all their electricity without the need of a single coal power plant. The challenge to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions is not a problem of technology. It is a problem of politics.

The Howard Government have made it clear they have no intentions of reducing Australia's greenhouse gas emissions. They actively undermined the creation of the Kyoto Protocol, and are determined to protect the $25 billion coal industry that fuels the emerging economies of China and India. Our future should not be held hostage to the needs of the economy. There is another way for Australia.

Beyond Zero Emissions calls on all people to raise awareness of the sustainability emergency. We need to convince our decision makers that a zero emission future is both possible, practical and vitally urgent.

Australia's climate change policy should not be constructed around pre-existing economic restraints, but on relevant science that leads our country and the planet towards to a sustainable future.

We are the generation fated to live in the most interesting of times, for we are now the weather makers, and the future of biodiversity and civilisation hangs on our actions."
Tim Flannery, The Weather Makers, p.306.

Rob Campbell is a campaigner with Beyond Zero Emissions